Are drivers athletes?

It’s an argument I used to have with a former co-worker. I said that anyone who displayed an extraordinary physical skill, whether it be hitting a baseball or a cue ball, was an athlete. His view was that, if you weren’t tearing up and down a basketball court or slamming a tennis ball, you weren’t a real “athlete.”

Well, this past Sunday we established that some drivers certainly are athletes, even by his standards.

Over in Daytona, they’re gearing up for the annual Daytona 500, stock-car racing’s biggest race. Sunday was qualifying day, but before the drivers took to the track, four of them decided to enter a different kind of race. So on Sunday morning they ran in the Daytona half-marathon, a 13.1-mile run that starts at the famous track, goes to the beach, and then comes back.

I’ve run a half-marathon. I never claimed to be an athlete, but I am qualified to say that 13.1 miles is a long way to run.

So, how did our drivers do?

The first to finish was Kasey Kahne, a 32-year-old heartthrob among female NASCAR fans. His time was 1:28:44, which placed him 17th overall among the more that 1,240 people who ran the race! He was fourth among the 70 runners in the 30-34 age group. He averaged 6 minutes and 46 seconds per mile, and I feel confident in saying there aren’t a whole lot of people who can run ONE mile in 6:46. (OK, go out to your local high school track and give it a try, but check with your doctor first.)

Close behind Kahne was his teammate Jimmie Johnson, who won five NASCAR Sprint Cup titles from 2006-2010. Johnson, 37, finished in 1:29:49, 25th overall and fourth among the 90 men in the 35-39 age group.

Two others who ran were Aric Almirola, who was 12th in the men’s 25-29 group in 1:46:35, and Michael Waltrip, who turns 50 in April, finishing about in the middle of his age group in 2:07 flat.

After I ran my half-marathon (let’s not talk about my time), I went home and collapsed. These guys put on their fire suits later that afternoon, grinned through the obligatory TV interviews, and then headed out for a 190-mph tour of the track.